Hello Troj

Hello Troj is a book that took over three decades to experience and 12 years to write. It is a book about growing up as a young female arts protégé during the last decade of Communism in Eastern Europe, in a society shaped by a rapidly disintegrating censorship apparatus struggling to sustain itself, in the world of the so-called “Intelligencia” governed by middle-aged white men, many of them prone to predatory behavior and accustomed to getting their own way. It is a deeply personal and unapologetic coming-of-age story that circles around the suicide of a younger brother and trying to figure oneself out in the context of dystopia and chaos.

But this is also a book about growing up in a family of heroes and madmen, all of them insanely creative but never recognized as anything but average, invisible, “just regular folks”. There is nothing “regular” or “average” about them.

Henry VIII’s Narrow Escape

In 1536, King Henry VIII faced a major rebellion called The Pilgrimage of Grace, in opposition to the religious changes being imposed by the king and his ministers. The rebels, based mainly in the north of England, were particularly keen to defend the monasteries against the government’s attempt to close them down. This book tells the story of the struggle for Sawley Abbey on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire near Clitheroe and how close Henry VIII came to a disastrous defeat there. The involvement of other northern monasteries in the struggle to save Sawley, at Whalley and Furness, is also explored. In his dealings with all three of these monasteries, Henry enjoyed great fortune and a very narrow escape. This is the story of how close these monasteries came to destroying Henry VIII and changing the entire course of English history.

Hidden Treasure

Here is a spell-binding and profound memoir for our times, sparked by the sudden death of a beloved partner. An intensely intimate yet fresh and light approach draws us into the delights of love, the consuming nature of grief, and a potent journey which unveils the mysterious treasures inherent in heartfelt engagement with the significant ups and downs of life.

Not only are we privy to the depth of the author’s thoughts and feelings but her partner comes across as a person with a real and secret unknown life all his own beyond the page, giving an appreciation for the profundity of a person we will never directly know. And a spectacular forest in New South Wales comes alive as an integral vital companion in this journey of discovery.

Hidden Treasure is not so hidden, it is a light of mature love that two attuned adults brought to life which emerges as a spiritual journey of deep relationship with the mystery of life.

This book acknowledges the vagaries of life with all its pitfalls and yet – ultimately – it is uplifting, ending on a hopeful joyous note. It holds the potential of nourishment for those who are grieving in a world currently dominated by loss and contains inspiration of the most dignified kind, beautifully portrayed.

Hippie Kushi Waking up to Life

Most people as they get older tend to forget about themselves. It seems to be a normal part of the process of life and it happens to the best of us. We forget to reach our own potential because we are far too focused on bringing up a family, working long hours to pay off the mortgage and bills, locked into the cycle of the never-ending treadmill of work and career. It is easy to lose our way and disregard our own existential well-being.

Suddenly one day thirty years later, we say to ourselves, ‘What happened to the person I used to be, what happened to my life? We used to be fun, go to parties, dance the night away at night clubs and have loads of crazy friends.’ Your social life now consists of a bottle of wine at home watching TV. Your friends are getting fewer and fewer because over the years you have focused on everybody else except yourselves.

My name is Stephen Cox, I am 55 years old and I describe myself as a modern hippie. I am spiritual, forward-thinking, a traveller of the world and a lover of life. I paint my brow with the colours of the rainbow, I wear bright multi-coloured clothes and beads and I dance with my whirly friends all through the night. I am happy! I have found hippie happiness, I have found Hippie Kushi and I would love it if you find it too.

Holloway

Holloway was a closed category A prison supposedly for women who had committed murders and were considered to be dangerous criminals. What was unknown was that many women were placed in Holloway due to the abuses and crimes related to and should often have been blamed on men. Historically such injustices and inequality were often linked to cases such as the Suffragette movement and the Irish Republicans, however, in modern times women found themselves to be remanded or imprisoned in Holloway for petty crimes, as a place of detention when there were immigration issues and for reasons that were beyond the understanding of those involved. Here are the stories of women who were abused by the laws and society one hoped were there to protect rather than punish them further. These remarkable women formed deep friendships, loved and cared for each other despite being thrown into a place of fear and intimidation.

Home and Away

Home and Away – A Civil Engineering Odyssey draws on the author’s long career as an engineer responsible for many projects around the world. In the memoir he highlights some of those projects with descriptions of the design processes and the construction methods used to bring the works to successful completion, keeping technical detail to the minimum needed for the reader’s understanding of the projects. Personal reminiscences of his travels complement descriptions of life as an engineer.

Developments in analysis of structures during the author’s working life have enabled all manner of structures to be designed to display elegance of form in a natural way without unnecessary embellishment. Practising engineers understand the satisfaction to be found in designing such engineering works and seeing them built as they envisaged. It is hoped the author’s enthusiasm for his work as expressed in the memoir may inspire others to become the civil engineers of the future.

Hot Soapy Water

So, I see you’ve picked up Hot Soapy Water, a bubble bath that’s not for kids. It’s okay, no need to look over your shoulder, I’m not there, I’ve never been there. Well, you’ve taken the first step. I suppose the question is, are you really going to do that old cliché and judge? “Hot Soapy Water, someone’s fetish with bath time?” Nope.

I haven’t diluted the contents of this book with fragrant bath bombs, candles and Barry White playing in the background. It’s mustard gas in the eyeballs, salt on an open wound. It’s utter modern-day carnage. Stories within stories, short poems. War, death, destruction, a chef’s journey, addiction, hedonism, mental health, trauma, the cold dark blanket of suicide, bravery, courage, bewilderment and some funny shit.

It’s a book you will not put down if you are brave enough to start. Why? Because I’m the voice in your head telling you this. My name is Auguste Knuckles, and you will ask yourself a question when the last page is turned: ‘how am I alive? Am I alive or has an alien written this nuclear bomb narrative fired into a volcano?’

Hotels to Home

What if you could live the luxury hotel experience at home, every day? Hotels to Home answers that question by creating a new lifestyle template that bridges the gap between your fondest hotel memories and everyday living.

Imagine stepping into your entryway with the eager anticipation as when entering your favorite hotel lobby, defining your family’s hotel brand as a lifestyle strategy, finely orchestrating room service for your household, or celebrating the end of each day with personalized turndown service. Taking what might have once been considered ordinary homelife and making your address a highly coveted destination.

Less memoir, more guidebook. Peek into the author’s travel essays and enjoy prompts to excavate your own vacation preferences that reveal a holiday lifestyle at home. Welcome to the Hotels to Home lifestyle!

Hottentot Venus – The Story of Saartjie Baartman

How Cricket Saved My Life

An honest, often sad but humorous account of life inside a body that no longer does as it is told!

Ian Martin was a sports-loving youngster. When he realised he was more enthusiastic than talented enough to make a career out of playing sport he left home and joined the Royal Navy. This book tells the story of his experiences at sea onboard HMS Ark Royal, his service during the first Gulf War on HMS London and his subsequent medical discharge after being diagnosed with a neuro-muscular condition. Ian talks about the impact of the diagnosis, his deterioration and mental health battles and how cricket helped him transition into a wheelchair and to him finding himself, and a new career.

It’s a tale of rejection, dreams, discovery, determination, resilience and, ultimately, success via the floors of many hotel bathrooms and scrapes with airport security.

How Hard Can It Be?

So how exactly would you cook a bat?

And what did Jesus get up to between being born in a stable in a hail of publicity, up until he appeared again at about 33 complete with a beard and an NVQ in carpentry?

Questions like this are what happens when a middle-aged, overweight bloke has a mid-life crisis, buys a bike and decides to cycle, unsupported and with minimal training from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Whilst the actual journey itself is covered in the book in a self-deprecating humorous style of the author, as his physically inadequate body and lack of training battle against the lack of comfort provided by a 2-inch wide saddle along with gravity and nature seemingly working against him for every mile, it is more about the thoughts he has while away from home with nothing else to think about other than pushing the left pedal followed by the right, followed by the left. And the responses to his thoughts from work colleagues, friends and family.

How Have I Cheated Death? A Short and Merry Life With Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the UK's most common life-threatening diseases, affecting over 10,000 people. There's currently no cure.

Not all that long ago, a CF diagnosis meant an early death. Tim Wotton is one such sufferer, who was told from an early age that he would not live beyond his 17th birthday. One of the oldest survivors of this crippling disease, How Have I Cheated Death? is a diary of his 39th year, a countdown to the illusive 40.
A story of triumph over adversity, this compelling chronicle, the first book written by a CF sufferer at 40, offers hope and inspiration, demonstrating what cannot be cured needs to be endured. Written with great honesty and humour with an enlightening Foreword by the actress Jenny Agutter, this profound account is a testament to the daily dedication required to deal with CF and recently diagnosed diabetes while managing a normal family life.